Chile Opens the Men’s Pan American Cup with

Victory over Dominican Republic

LEÓN, Guanajuato, August 26, 2025.- Chile opened the Senior Men’s Pan American Volleyball Cup with a 3-1 victory (25-19, 23-25, 25-17, 25-23) over the Dominican Republic in the first match of Pool C, held at the Domo de la Feria in León, Guanajuato.

The Chilean team showed a strong start, taking an early 11-5 lead with attacks from different positions and forcing Dominican errors, closing the first set with an ace by Vicente Valenzuela.

The Dominican Republic reacted in the second set with a tighter game and longer rallies. With blocks from Rafael Burgos and Héctor Cruz, the Caribbean side took a 17-12 advantage. Chile responded through captain Dusan Bonacic and contributions from Vicente Parraguirre and Valenzuela, but Cruz led the Dominican offense and a kill by Luis Reinoso sealed the set to even the match 1-1.

The third set was even in the early stages until Chile pulled ahead 15-11 with a block by Tomás Gago, effective attacks from Bonacic, and Dominican errors. From there, the South Americans extended their lead to take control of the match.

In the fourth set, Chile led by as many as six points, but the Dominican Republic staged a dramatic comeback, saving a match point with a block by Burgos against Bonacic (22-24). In the end, Vicente Parraguirre scored the decisive point to secure the Chilean victory.

Statistics favored Chile in attacks (55-53) and service (3-1), while the Dominican Republic led in blocking (8-7). Chile also benefited from 33 Dominican errors, committing 23 of their own.

Vicente Parraguirre topped Chile’s scoring with 19 points, followed by captain Dusan Bonacic with 15 and Vicente Valenzuela with 14. For the Caribbean team, captain Héctor Cruz was the leading scorer of the match with 29 points, supported by Ronny Molina with 16.

In their next Pool C matches, Chile will face Suriname, while the Dominican Republic will meet Mexico.

Chilean captain Dusan Bonacic said after the win: “I’m happy to start the Pan American Cup with a very important victory for us because the Dominican Republic has always been a tough opponent. I’m satisfied with our team’s performance because this victory opens up the championship a bit for us. It was a close finish, with some differences of opinion, but with humility and respect we fought every point.”

Dominican captain Héctor Cruz said: “It was an exciting finish, but we lost focus on blocking. We will keep working hard; this was only the first match, and we still have opportunities.”